maverick wrote:I do not care for LYV, just to many people, to noisy, and this is really magnified if it is my first trip for the season, I really have to zoom right thru it. Plus it is not the prettiest location either.

Second this! I spent the last night of my Clark Range trip in the sprawling megalopolis of LYV campground, and it might as well have been the Valley itself--only without any amenities.

MK wrote "I'll get the fur flying by starting off that I kindly disagree with Maverick's opening statement, in light of the variety that is the Andes." I'll have to disagree since the Sierra is in one state, one country, unlike the Andes which is 4300 miles, and runs through several countries, so they are not really comparable. Find me a range less than 400 miles long to compare that is as diverse, and beautiful as the Sierra Nevada, not over 10 times the length! None of those countries with the Andes running through them have the bio diversity that the Sierra offers, each have several individual spots that are beautiful, but not even close to 400 miles of it, and if we really take from Northern Yosemite to Southern SEKI than we are really only talking about 270-300 miles! To me Chile, from what I have seen, would offer the most, and the one I would visit if I had the chance, and then Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina from the rest.

Whuh...? I agree with you about Tahoe (it kills me that so many people think of Tahoe as synonymous with "the Sierra"), including Desolation Wilderness...but everything worth seeing in the Sierra is south of Tahoe, not north. Seriously: what on earth is there to see up that way?

(I mean in terms of landscape; obviously, there are some great wildflower areas in the northern Sierra.)

maverick wrote: Find me a range less than 400 miles long to compare that is as diverse, and beautiful as the Sierra Nevada, not over 10 times the length!

you asked...

take a trip to the mountains of the island of Corsica - 100x50 miles and vastly different geology in each valley. When I first came to the Sierra, I was annoyed how long it took to get to something different. Guess I was spoiled by the French Island.

I have heard from an associate about how pretty the island is, with a great trail called GR20, but peaks at close to only 9000 ft, and the lack of beautiful pine forested land with sequoia's, redwoods, and numerous lakes high and low, and numerous major rivers, I do not see a comparison, even he siting some of these differences when talking about Corsica as compared to the sierra, he did mention great rock climbing. This person has been to the Tibet, Alaska, New Zealand, Kenya, Chile, and Argentina to name a few places, and said that the Sierra in his opinion is still the best.

Sorry Mav, maybe we can agree to disagree. I enjoy the Sierra plenty, but I also find it monotonous as a result of the geology and climate. It is beautiful, no question, and easy to travel in, and I have a life-time of great memories, but it is all of a type in my mind. Others will obviously disagree, and beauty is in the mind of the beholder, no point in trying to argue that, I was just stating my opinion. But that wasn't the point of your post anyway, and not a necessary part of what makes the discussion interesting.

No arguments from me MK, just send me some plane tickets down to Torres del Paine for 2 weeks and we'll call it even. Oh, and make sure we fly over Atacama, check this out http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/977480 Did you get a chance to fly over this beautiful area?

Whuh...? I agree with you about Tahoe (it kills me that so many people think of Tahoe as synonymous with "the Sierra"), including Desolation Wilderness...but everything worth seeing in the Sierra is south of Tahoe, not north. Seriously: what on earth is there to see up that way.

It is really ironic how people acuse us thru hikers of going too fast to see anything and i feel like you must have missed something cause that area is beautiful beyond words! (IMHO) Hey this is all about opinions and I respect yours. For my own opinion:Seeing the "range of light" and then passing through that dark crumbling landscape from Dorothy lake pass north to the Tahoe Rim and then seeing it all switch back to granite in the Sierra buttes makes you realize how lucky we are to have all of it.. even the bits we thought we wouldn't like.In 2,665 miles on the PCT there was not one mile i did not like.

Last edited by Hetchy on Wed Feb 02, 2011 4:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.